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Consult with individual teachers

Each of these topics has an entire chapter devoted to it in A Guide to Faculty Development. I won't repeat here what those excellent chapters contain, will add just a little "in the field" kind of advice from my own experience. ( indicates an external link and opens in a new browser window.)

Individual consultations

Individual consultations take many forms. New teachers may need help organizing their materials (and themselves) to prepare for their first course, experienced teachers may want help overhauling a course gone stale, young faculty worried about tenure may be concerned about their student evals. Teachers may come to you for a one-time meeting about facilitation strategies or they may be interested in having you observe and work with them throughout the term. Everyone wants different things and is ready to hear suggestions in different ways.

Listen carefully to how the teacher describes their needs--how personally do they take feedback on their teaching? Especially for new teachers who care a great deal, it can be easy to internalize teaching difficulties as if they reflect upon one's character. One way to defuse this anxiety is to remind the teacher that the teaching/learning process involves the students, too, and every group of students makes for different chemistry in the classroom. This might lead to a discussion about ways the teacher can collect "diagnostic" information from students on the first day of class, enabling them to adapt their delivery to each new group. Plenty of empathy and open-ended questions help get many discussions off on the right footing.

In the "political fishbowl" of academia, many teachers may feel that you are their only trusted ally. That trust is special and deserves "a good listening to." For this reason, find out your campus' policy on closed-doors and try to treat instructional consultation a little more privately than regular student office hours. The teacher should not feel at risk of being overheard but should also not feel trapped. I close my door as far as I can without latching it, so it is open just "a crack." I explain that this is to make sure we are not interrupted--and I never answer my phone during an individual consultation.

Finally, a T.A. once gave me some great advice about office furniture. She told me that offices in which the desks were against the wall led to a more comfortable, open discussion whereas having to look across a desk at the other person made for a more power-laden, judgmental atmosphere. Since then, I have always put my desk against the wall so I can fully face the person with whom I am working and I like it much better.

Classroom observations

When a teacher asks you to observe them, it is wise to find out what motivated them make that request. Again, open-ended questions are usually best at this point: "What kind of feedback would be most helpful to you? Do you have any specific concerns? What prompted you to look for feedback on these particular issues?"

The classroom observation itself differs from classroom to classroom. In a giant lecture hall, you can slip inconspicuously into the back row. In a small discussion section, it is important to be introduced to the class by the instructor so everyone knows why you are there.

If you are going to videotape during your observation, take special care to arrive early, set up quietly, and make sure the instructor tells the students why the camera is in the room (to tape the teacher, not the students). These are usually highly-emotional events for the instructor, as most people assume that being videotaped will be excruciating. Interestingly, after a minute or two of awkwardness, most teachers forget about the camera. Harvard's Derek Bok Center has a nice short article in which Eight Teaching Fellows Tell What It's Like To Be Videotaped

In addition to observing instructor behavior (vocal projection, clarity of presentation, question-and-answer dynamics, discussion facilitation skills and so on) observe student behavior in the class. After all, students make up half of the teacher/student relationship. Specifically, watch for coalitions among students (the whispering group in the back) or students obviously frustrated by their experience in the classroom. In later consultation with the teacher, asking about these particular students may reveal something about the social history of the class that they might not have thought to bring up on their own.

When you finally do have the follow-up consultation with the instructor, begin by asking them how they feel the class went: what went well, what could have gone better, anything in particular about which they would like feedback? This is an important phase of the conversation, because it lets the teacher themselves bring up delicate issues and enables them to hear your perspective. When given the chance to "preemptively critique" themselves, they are much less likely to take a defensive posture in reaction to your observations.

Formative student feedback (SGIDs, MATs, etc.)

As a confidential "third-party" on campus, faculty developers will frequently be called upon by teachers to facilitate some kind of mid-course feedback from their students. Mid-course feedback enables teachers to fine-tune a course that is already in progress. Gathering mid-course feedback sends a message to the students that their teacher really cares about the class, and this message can be almost as important to the health of the class as the feedback it generates.

One of the most popular forms of formative student feedback is the Small Group Instructional Diagnosis (a.k.a., the SGID or "class interview").

The SGID (a.k.a. the "class interview")

As promised I won't repeat Nancy A. Diamond's chapter about SGIDs in A Guide to Faculty Development. However, I will give a brief outline of the process as I experience it for those who don't yet have the book.

When a teacher schedules a class interview, I usually arrange to conduct the interview at the very beginning of a class session. My theory is that the students' feedback will then be more about the course as a whole and based less on the most recent classroom experience that day. I am not sure it actually makes a huge difference, but as a teacher myself I know that it is nice to get the class interview done and be able to get on with class for the day.

On the day of the class interview, I arrive at the classroom early and let the teacher convene class and take care of whatever pressing class "housekeeping" there may be. At this point, they will briefly introduce me and leave the room. Then I usually say something like:

"So-and-so asked me to come do this with you because s/he cares about this class and wants to make sure she is doing everything s/he can to make sure it is a good experience for you. So here is how I'd like to spend the next 15 minutes:

"For the first five minutes, I'd like you to take out a piece of paper and individually come up with two short lists: things you really like about the class and suggestions for how the class could be improved. Remember that the more concrete your suggestions, the easier they will be--and therefore more likely--to implement.

"Then, for five minutes, I'd like you gather into groups of 4 or 5 and compare lists. Generate a group list and figure out which suggestions your group feels most strongly about.

"For the last five minutes, I am going to go around and get a positive comment and a suggestion from each group. After I have gotten one of each from every group, then I will see if there are any more left to be said, I will get those and I will be on my way.

Make sense? Great! Let's go."

I then watch the clock and--after five minutes--herd the students from individual reflection into rough groupings of 4 or 5. Group size and equity is not crucial--time is crucial. They class begins to buzz and the groups generate their lists. Time passes quickly, and after five minutes or so, it is time to move into the final stage of the process--gathering information from each group. I sometimes have to shout or flicker the lights to get the students' attention, if the class large enough. I announce that I want to move from group to group and get one positive comment and one suggestion from each group.

I then jump randomly from group to group, asking for their input, taking notes feverishly on my notepad. I jump randomly because I have found that if you start on one side of the room and work your way across, the groups at the "far" side of the room will zone out (or fall asleep!) through most of the process, since they know it will be a while before you get to them. You want them listening to their peers throughout the process in case they feel they want to add, dispute or embellish a previous comment.

I have found that about two-thirds of the way through the process, groups frequently begin repeating input from earlier groups. When this happens, I don't discourage them--I tell them that I will put a "tick" mark next to each piece of input as it is repeated, thereby indicating how strongly the class as a whole feels about each piece of feedback.

When I have heard once from each each group, I than ask the group as a whole "O.K., did anything get left out?" Sometimes there are one or two more suggestions, but usually the process has captured what is on the students' minds. At this point, time is usually up. I thank the students for their helpful input and tell them that I will be passing it on to their instructor as soon as possible. I then return the classroom to the instructor.

  • A word about disagreement: if you have time, it is wonderful to get a "show of hands" indication of how many students in the room agree with each piece of feedback as it is given to you. However, time does not always allow for this and when I am hurried I reserve the "show of hands" check-in for when it is quite obvious that many students disagree with a certain piece of feedback (grumbling, shifting in seats, etc.). At this point, I say "I am sensing that we don't have consensus on this. How many people agree with this suggestion? How many people disagree?" I take a rough percentage count of "agree" vs. "disagree" and tell the students that I will report that to the instructor.

  • The process as described here takes between 15-20 minutes and only works in class of roughly 50 or smaller. As class sizes increase, the verbal information-gathering stage of the process becomes correspondingly unwieldy. If the class is large enough, little or no verbal information gathering is possible and the best you can do is ask the groups to write their suggestions legibly and turn them in to you. You then must sift through those written comments and generate feedback to the instructor without the opportunity to ask the students' clarifying questions.

  • How you deliver the SGID feedback to the instructor will vary. Ideally, you can have a face-to-face conversation with them, but every instructor may not want or need this. In fact, many instructors like having my e-mail waiting for them when they get back from class. If they want me to e-mail it to them, I preface the feedback with a paragraph explaining that the process went well and how I got a great deal of useful input. I then deliver the feedback and put an asterisk next to each suggestion for each time it was repeated (the digital version of a "tick" mark.) For example:

    **** Team activities are very effective and should be continued
    **** Teacher seems enthusiastic and approachable
    **** Homework should be returned prior to exams
    **** Text on overheads should be bigger
    **** Office hours should be constant throughout the term

    Finally, I invite them to let me know if any of the feedback is unclear or confusing, or if they would like to chat further about recommended ways to respond to the feedback.

Other mid-course feedback mechanisms

    • Classroom Assessment Techniques: These are short exercises given to the students by the instructor. Can help gauge student understanding of material or solicit feedback about the course (instructional format, pace, delivery, logistics, etc.). Check out this Classroom Assessment Techniques (CATs) web site or the book Classroom Assessment Techniques, by Angelo and Cross.

    • E-mailed Mid-course Feedback: Some faculty development centers facilitate a process in which students are given a specific window of time to respond to mid-course feedback queries initiated by the faculty development center on campus. For an example, see the Mid-Term E-mail Feedback Survey at the University of Oregon's Teaching Effectiveness Program

    • Online Mid-course Assessment: Many schools are experimenting with on-line assessment--both formative (mid-course) and summative (end-of-course). This presents many opportunities and obstacles, as technology has a way of doing. For an example of an on-line mid-course feedback tool, see the University of Texas at Austin's Ongoing Course Assessment tool.
 

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